militarywikiaorg-20200222-history
Bernard McQuirt
|serviceyears= |rank=Private |branch= British Army |commands= |unit=95th Regiment of Foot |battles=Indian Mutiny |awards= Victoria Cross }}Bernard McQuirt VC (1829 – 5 October 1888) was born in Donaghcloney near Lurgan, County Armagh and was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Details He was about 29 years old, and a private in the 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot (later The Sherwood Foresters (The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) ), British Army during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place on 6 January 1858 at the capture of the town of Rowa, India for which he was awarded the VC: Burial McQuirt's memorial stone was erected in 1995 in an Anglican graveyard in Donaghcloney, where Bernard McQuirt was born in a small village some 30 miles south of Belfast. But his remains are not in this graveyard. Bernard McQuirt died in Erney Street off the Shankill Road, Belfast, 5 October 1888, and no one knew where he was buried. In 1993 while working for the Belfast City Council (City Cemetery) Robert Burns found Bernard McQuirt's registration and burial site in a Catholic plot of the Belfast City Cemetery. As there was no gravestone Robert contacted the Sherwood Foresters Museum in England and they proposed to pay for a stone. When Robert asked for permission to erect the stone in the graveyard the Catholic Church refused him permission as the plot was a poor plot with many other remains in the grave. Robert then approached the City Council for permission to erect the memorial stone on a wall in Erney Street (off Shankill Road) were Bernard McQuirt VC died in 1888. This was also rejected. Then Robert approached locals from Donaghcloney to erect the memorial stone in the local village square beside the World War I and World War II war memorial. This was also rejected. Finally a local Church of Ireland Minister offered Robert Burns access to the local Donaghcloney Church graveyard to erect the memorial stone. In 2000 a British Army colour party from a regiment based in Northern Ireland finally dedicated the stone in memory of Bernard McQuirt VC. The inscription on the stone states: Sacred to the memory of Private Bernard McQuirt VC 95th The Derbyshire Regiment who won the regiment's first VC at ROWA CENTRAL INDIA 6th January 1858 he died 5 October 1888 "NINETY - FIVE""Irish Winners of the VC 1846 to 1945" is recorded in the photographic section between pages 128 & 129. References 'Listed in order of publication year ' *The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997) * *Irelands VCs ISBN 1-899243-00-3 (Dept of Economic Development 1995) *Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999) *Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000) External links *Location of grave and VC medal (Belfast, Northern Ireland) Category:Irish recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:Sherwood Foresters soldiers Category:People from County Armagh Category:1829 births Category:1888 deaths Category:19th-century Irish people Category:Irish soldiers in the British Army Category:Indian Rebellion of 1857 recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross